The short interest in Sirius (SIRI) inflated by 30.9 million shares to 188.9 million. The figures compare April 30 to April 15 numbers. Investor are clearly willing to gamble against the company’s merger with XM Satellite (XMSR).

Several banking stocks also say spikes in short interest. Shares sold short in Huntington (HBAN) moved higher by 9.6 million to 47.2 million. Shares short in E*Trade (ETFC) rose 9.2 million to 104.5 million. The short interest in Zions Bancorp (ZION) moved higher by 7.3 million to 23.2 million. Share short in Schwab (SCHW) moved up 6.9 million to 32.1 million. And, the short interest in Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) was up 3.6 million to 27.2 million.

Other notable increases in short interest included share short in Oracle (ORCL) which rose 8.7 million to 51.4 million and Broadcom (BRCM) which had a move up of 8.2 million to 38.6 million.

Most technical and telecommunications stocks lost traders willing to bet against them. The short interest in Intel (INTC) fell 10.9 million shares to 44.9 million. Shares short in Microsft (MSFT) were off 10.6 million to 98.4 million. The short interest in Comcast (CMCSA) dropped 8.9 million to 60.7 million. Shares short in Cisco (CSCO) fell 5.9 million to 60 million. Short interest in Qualcomm (QCOM) dropped 5.7 million to 20.2 million.

Data from Nasdaq

Douglas A. McIntyre

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